


Slow Burn

by Youremyalways



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Happy endingish, Lian Yu, Oliver concerned, Williams an olicity shipper, felicity burned, felicity hurt, post 5x23
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 03:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11152923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youremyalways/pseuds/Youremyalways
Summary: one-shot taking place directly after the ending of 5x23.William is an olicity shipper ;)





	1. Chapter 1

Oliver looked on in complete and utter shock as the island where he'd spent the worst 5 years of his life blew up before his eyes. There was a sort of sick irony to it. The place he'd wanted gone from existence since the day he first set foot on its terrain was finally going down. And with it, his whole family. 

He ran his hand through his sons hair as his body shook, feeling like it was on autopilot. His brain just shut down completely. He felt a tear roll down his cheek and a choked noise came from his throat. He almost forgot about the little boy in his arms until,

"Oliver? Where's my mom?" He sniffled, clearly holding back his emotions.

Oliver's chest tightened, his breath hitching in his throat, "I don't know."

He felt William shove his head against his stomach even more. Every person he had left was on that island, every person he loved. William was the only thing he had left. Thea was gone. John was gone. And... and Felicity. Felicity was gone.

"Oliver?" He heard another whisper escape his son.

"Yeah?" He closed his eyes, trying to keep his tears at bay.

"What's that noise?" He questioned.

Oliver immediately straightened, his ears searching for something other then his own thoughts. And just as he was about to give up, he heard a small cough come from his heart. A sob barely fell from his lips as he removed his hands from William and held the small comm attached to his suit.

"Felicity!" He half screamed and half begged.

Another cough radiated through the speaker system. Oliver was so relieved to hear her alive that his legs just gave out underneath him. He fell onto his knees and finally his emotions overwhelmed him. His fingers were barely under his control when he grabbed his heart and cried her name again.

William watched in shock as his father fell to his knees in front of him. He didn't know his father well at all, in fact he'd only just figured out that he actually was his father. But he immediately knew how much Oliver cared about him. That was something that was unmistakable. From what he was told, his father, the green arrow, was one of the strongest people alive and so he had no idea what to do as he witnessed him collapse onto the floor of the boat and cry in front of him. He didn't know where his mom was either, but right now Oliver was the only thing he could focus on. The only thing that was certain.

"It's okay, dad." The word tasted foreign on his tongue.

He reached forward and did the only thing he knew how right now. He reached out his small arm and placed his hand on Olivers shoulder supportively.

"Felicity?" William heard his father whisper into the small black metal thing on his chest.

Oliver felt his heart pounding in his chest. He could hear blood rushing in his ears as he pleaded for Felicity to talk to him.

There was a ruffle on the other side, like paper crinkling. The noise caught his attention and at that moment he felt William's hand land on his shoulder. He heard him tell him that it was okay.

"Thank you, buddy." He placed his left hand over Williams small one that rested on his shoulder. 

"Felicity, please answer me. I need to know that you're okay." He begged again, closing his eyes and turning his attention back to the comm.

"Oh my god! Oliver!" Her voice came through suddenly, full of life.

"Felicity! Are you okay?!" He yelled, squeezing William's hand.

"I'm bleeding a little but I'm okay, Oliver! We're all okay! Did you get William?!" She questioned.

"Yeah, he's safe! He's with me! How are you alive?!" He questioned.

"The Argus bunker! It's bomb-proof, we made it in time and hid there for a while. We're on the surface now and it's all burning down. I don't know how to get to you!" Her voice cracked, she was clearly trying to hold on to her emotions.

"Head for the shore! The water is you best chance! Is Samantha there?!"

"Ollie!" Samantha's voice suddenly yelled through the comm.

"Mom!" William immediately recognized the voice and moved closer to the system.

"Hey honey! I'm okay! You're okay! We're going home, okay?!" She was crying, Oliver noticed.

"Okay Mom, I love you." William whispered as Oliver patted his shoulder.

"I love you too!" 

"Samantha can you put Felicity back on please?" Oliver interrupted and William looked like he was about to complain when Oliver finished, "she can get you all safe."

"Oliver we're heading to the shore. Or at least hopefully it's the s- arghhhh!" Her talking was cut off with a loud scream of agony.

"Felicity!?" Oliver screamed desperately.

"She's burned. I have her. Oliver get that boat as close to land as possible!" Digg was now the one chanting commands.

Oliver only nodded, though they couldn't see that. He stood up from his knees and walked to the steering wheel, beginning to turn the vessel back towards the diminishing island.

"Oliver can I ask you a question?" William asked from behind him.

"Shoot." He responded, keeping his eyes concentrated on the path he needed to take.

"Who's Felicity?" The question took Oliver aback for a second.

"That man said that it would be lonely without my mom and Felicity. So she must be important, who is that?" 

"Huh, well Felicity is somebody I care about very much and that man, Adrian, said that because he knows that I could never live without her."

"Do you love her?" William asked.

Oliver sighed, "more than anything else in the world."

"So are you married?" He half asked, half stated.

"No, no we're not."

"Why not? Isn't that what people who love each other do? Oh." A realization dawned on him mid sentence.

"What?"

"Does she not love you back?" William asked slowly.

"No, I don't thin- It's like, I mean, I don't- I lied to her about something and I shouldn't have done that." He stumbled over his answer.  
"About what?" 

Oliver was getting aggravated with the questions but he couldn't say anything because after all, he was just a little kid.

"You, actually. I had to keep you a secret from her and when your planning a wedding-"

"So you are married?!" William looked excited for a second.

"No, we never got married. We broke up before that could happen."

"Oh." William looked down.

"What?" He laughed a little at the boy's sullen reaction.

"I know I'm just a kid, but it's pretty obvious how much you love her. I mean, even when you aren't together the bad guys can still use her against you. Right?" 

"The bad guys used her against me long before we were together. I'd do anything for her." He stated.

"Would she do anything for you too?"

"I trust her with everything in me so yeah, I do think she'd do anything for me." He felt his chest tighten a little bit as he thought about what that could mean for her.

"That's cool. I wish all love was like that." William sighed.

"What do yo-"

"Oliver we're at the shore!" John's voice suddenly interrupted their deep conversation as he yelled through the comms.

"Okay, I'm searching the perimeter." Oliver anxiously replied.

He sped the boat off and started his journey around the island to find his friends. After another 15 minutes, he was successful.

"I see you!" Oliver yelled, relief flooding through his body.

3 full length bodies emerged from the thick black smoke engulfing the island, and 1 on another's back.

Digg had Felicity in a piggyback ride, her awake but clearly in a considerable amount of pain. Samantha looked fine, but sweaty and probably dehydrated like the rest of them. Thea was walking with a limp but despite everything looked to be in pretty good shape. Digg seemed fine, considering the look of strain on his face was probably from carrying Felicity for several miles. She was the one he was worried about. She'd mentioned something about her bleeding on the phone and Digg had said she'd been burned. Oliver assumed it was from the fires breaking out all over, but he didn't know the extent of her injuries and that scared him a lot more then anything else did right now. He also realized that neither Slade of Nyssa were with the group, but that was something to bring up later. 

"William are you okay here for a minute?" Oliver was about to jump off when he looked back at his son.

"Save my mom and Felicity." He nodded.

Oliver smiled proudly before diving into the water, his feet hitting the bottom. He swam as fast as he could to the shoreline. 

"Ollie!" Thea cried as he broke the surface of the water and ran up to her at full speed.

She hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go of her brother. He just let her hug him.

"Your leg?" He questioned, remembering the limp.

"I fell and hit my knee off a rock. It's okay, I've had worse." She smiled a little bit as he pulled away from her embrace.

"Williams on the boat, Samantha." He announced.

"Thank you." She hugged him briefly before taking off towards the boat.

Oliver then approached Digg and Felicity.

"What happened?!" He asked John.

"We were running, she got distracted and fell. There was a metal plane her back and legs leaned on. The heat was conducted through that and we've got some seriously second or third degrees here, man."

"This is my fault." He looked up in horror.

"Oliv-"

"No! She was distracted because I was talking to her!"

"I'm right here, guys." She suddenly stirred on Diggs back.

"I'll take her. Digg help Thea, her leg is hurt."

And within the next 3 minutes they were all treading through the sea water to reach the boat.

Felicity screeched loudly when her newly burned backside was greeted with the salt water. She was gripping Oliver so hard her nails were creating marks on his chest. She was practically seething out of her teeth at the white hot pain coasting over her entire back from her calves to her shoulder blades.

"Hey, just hold on, were almost there. You're gonna be okay, I've got you." Oliver comforted.

Every time she made a noise or clung to him tighter, Oliver swore he felt the pain himself. After 5 years of suffering, the worst pain that he ever had to face is still seeing Felicity in pain. 

When they finally made it to the boat, she was crying in pain, blood rushing across her back, lighter in color after mixing with the water.

"Samantha I don't want William to see this!" Oliver shouted to Samantha, who nodded and held William against her so his face was buried in her chest.

"You're doing great Felicity, just hold on." Oliver soothed as he took the blonde below deck.

He quickly laid her down on her stomach on the small cot in the corner. He had her so her back was facing up and he nearly threw up when he really studied it. It was really bad. She only grunted and groaned as he gently ran his hands over her tense shoulders. 

"It's just you and me now, I got you." He soothed, even though his voice probably wasn't what she wanted to hear right now.

He then reached one hand to the loop of his leather belt and pulled a small, sharp knife out of it. Slowly, he grabbed the collar of her ripped and demolished jacket and slide the blade down the fabric. He then had to peel the clothing from her estranged backside. She was whimpering, biting her bottom lip so hard it was turning ghostly white.

"It's off, I'm going to try and find a med kit, okay?"

She just barely nodded to show her acknowledgement. With her permission, he left her side and rummaged through drawers to find anything that could help her.

After 4 minutes, he returned with 2 items in his hands. He had wraps in one, and Neosporin in the other.

"Okay. I need to disinfect these but it's going to hurt." He spoke regretfully.

"Just do it." She whispered.  
And he did, for 6 minutes of excruciating pain as it fizzled out into her tarnished skin. At some point she stopped screaming completely and Oliver almost threw up as he realized the pain had knocked her out. Once the Neosporin faded, he dressed her back and legs in white wrap. He breathed a sigh of relief when he was done, but still felt pain and panic dominantly. 

She didn't wake for another hour, and Oliver just sat next to her patiently, watching her chest ride and fall with each labored breath she took. 

"Hey." He spoke sweetly when she awoke.

Her blue eyes drifted open and met his own, the light making her squint.

"What happened?" She spoke dryly.

"You have third degree burns all over your back. Digg is taking us back to Star City now and we will get you to the hospital." He stated.

"Ok." She sighed.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"This is the one time I actually wish I couldn't feel my lower body." She smirked a little but Oliver's face remained concerned.

"I Uhm... I heard everything you said. On the boat." She closed her eyes for a second before swallowing.

"You did?" 

"Yeah. You've got a smart kid, Oliver.

"Probably didn't get that from me." He laughed a little.

She smiled briefly and reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"So, I know you said we should talk about this, us, when we got off the island but I mean technically we're not in the island anymore and I don't want to wai-"

"Felicity, there is nothing I want more than to talk to you about this. Let's do it when we get home, when you're better, okay?"

"Home. I like the sound of that."

"You and me both."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back by request.
> 
> Oliver takes care of Felicity and has much-needed conversations with both Thea and Samantha.

Back when he spent his nights in the cold, stormy woods on Lian Yu, Oliver slept alone. He stared up at the dark skies above and after days or endless hours not being rescued, he learned how to keep track of time on the dreadful island. He knew that during the hotter months, the sun set around 8:00. So from 8:00 when the sun set, he counted the hours.

That's how he knew that it was around 10:00 at night when Felicity fell back asleep on the small, disheveled cot in the deepest part of the boat. They had no access to clocks or any other electronics on the boat, and so they simply relied on Oliver's skills.

As she slept soundly, or as soundly as she could given her current state, he leaned down and gently pressed his lips to her pale forehead. After he released the kiss, he took a step back, needing to go upstairs and check on everyone else.

"Goodnight Felicity." He whispered before turning his body and moving up the skinny wooden stairs to the main deck.

"How is she?" He immediately heard John ask from behind the wheel.

"Not great." He thought about lying but knew it wasn't his place to get their hopes up.

As a reply, he was met by silence as they all exchanged worried glances across the boat. 

"How's your leg, Speedy?" Oliver turned his head to look at his sister, who was standing at the edge of the boat looking out at the stars in the sky. Her leg was hanging limp.

"It's okay. I think I tore a muscle, but that's the least of our concerns right now." She answered.

He made his way over to her, enveloping her into his arms.

"I'm sorry Thea."

"Ollie stop apologizing. There was nothing you could do! This was that murdering psychotic, okay?" She practically yelled.

"No, he's not the one that dragged you into this messed up life that never ends well. Look at us! We're stuck on a boat in the middle of the North China Sea, you can't walk, Felicity could d- Felicity isn't doing well! This is all my fault!"

"When will you understand that we make our own choices Ollie! Me and Felicity! I chose to do this because I wanted to, that was my choice. Felicity's been helping you for nearly 6 years, and that is her choice. It is our lives and we get to chose what we do with them." She erupted.

He stood in silence for a few seconds, letting her words absorb.

"I can't lose her, Speedy." He shook his head, biting back tears that threatened to fall.

"I know, Ollie. And you won't. We're all here for her, and you. We'll get her to a hospital and she'll be okay."

"I don't know this time. It's really bad." He choked.

"Hey, she's strong. A lot stronger then we give her credit for. She pulled through Damien Dhark, she'll pull through this too."

He nodded briefly, closing his eyes and flexing his jaw. They both stared up at the bright, shining stars in the dark black sky above their heads.

"For what it's worth, I definitely approve of you and her." She suddenly broke the silence.

"I don't really know if there is a me and her." He answered, sighing.

"After that kiss, big bro?" She spoke of the island and laughed, elbowing his side a little. 

"It's hard to tell. She forgave me for lying to her, she said she understood. And then we were separating and she... she kissed me and I just... I don't want to get my hopes up because being stranded on an island, not knowing if your going to survive can make you do some crazy things."

"Oliver, I know you might not believe this, but she's loves you as much as you love her. But she's not a mind-reader and you can't put all of the weight of this on her, you need to talk to her and tell you how you feel."

"Thank you." She turned his head to look at her.

"Anytime." She pat his shoulder gently.

"I've got to check on William." He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead before walking to the other side of the boat.

"Samantha?" He approached the long-haired brunette.

"Oliver, hey. How's Felicity?" She had worry lines etched in her forehead as she held Williams head to her chest.

"She's..." he looked down and eyed William, whose eyes fluttered beneath the lids, indicating that he was awake. "We're going to take her to a hospital when we get to mainland. She's sleeping now."

He couldn't bring himself to talk about her condition in front of William, and he couldn't lie to him either. Therefore, he avoided the direct answer to Samantha's inquiry.

"That's good." She nodded.

William then shuffled out of his mother's arms and stepped towards his father. His eyes were brimmed with red. He looked up at Oliver and tears formed just beyond his crystal blue irises.

"You don't have to do that. I can take it." He replied.

"I know you can," he kneeled down so he was at eye level, "but right now we just need to focus on getting her to safety so I need you to be brave for me. Can you do that?"

He nodded eagerly, wiping at his eyes before turning back to his mom as she smiled and nodded sadly in Oliver's direction.

"Are you okay?" She asked Oliver quietly as she wrapped William back in her embrace.

"I will be. Once we reach a hospital." He replied, standing up.

"Is there anything I can do? We can do?" She ran her fingers through her son's hair.

"Just you being here is enough. Thank you." He spoke genuinely, "you two should get some rest. We'll be approaching mainland by morning if all goes to plan. I'm going to check on Felicity."

"Go be with her, Ollie." She nodded and he took a deep breath before walking away from the two of them.

He quickly checked with Digg before going back down under the main deck in order to check on a certain blonde. She was fast asleep, her breathing rugged and uneven. Worry lines were etched into her forehead even as she slept. 

He sighed heavily and sat down on the small, wooden stool next to the cot she lied on. He bit his lip, keeping his feelings and emotions at bay as he watched her sleep, her breathing coming out in loud huffs, the pain she was in was obvious. 

He sat with her for hours, listening to her breaths and letting his mind sway with the rocking of the boat. He was starting to doubt everything he thought he knew. Their relationship would put her in harms way even more than she already was, but he knew that when they were engaged. On the other hand, if they kept living in denial of their feelings for each other, they would slowly destroy themselves. 

Suddenly, as he shifted out of the easy, light sleep he had drifted into, he heard John yell from above deck.

"Land Ho!"

Oliver laughed a little at the teasing statement before he heard the sheets rustle under Felicity and his attention was turned to her.

"Hey you." He smiled.

Her eyes fluttered open and the blue of her eyes met his own.

"What going on?" She winced when she tried to move, but it was too much for her burn-ridden body.

"We're approaching land. We're getting you help." He answered, trying to sound reassuring.

"Ok." She hummed.

He stood from his chair and moved his body even closer to her body.

"How are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She mumbled, her voice gravelly.

"Felicity im gonna ask that question again. How are you doing?"

"I'm sore, I'm hungry, and I'm exhausted." She groaned, knowing that he would catch onto her lies in a matter of seconds. 

"We'll be able to get you some pain medicine soon. And I will personally travel to any restaurant you want and get you whatever you want." He promised, a smile playing at the edge of his lips. 

"Ok." She barely nodded.

"I hate to interrupt the moment, but we've docked. We need to get you to the hospital." Digg came down the stairs.

She squeezed Oliver's hand and he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Let's get you some help." He nodded.

"And some food." She laughed.


End file.
